How Wales is leading the way to treat strokes with Artificial Intelligence

  • Video report by Katie Fenton

Wales has become the first UK nation to use Artificial Intelligence (AI) across all its hospitals to identify the right stroke treatment quickly.

An estimated 7,400 people in Wales have a stroke each year, and for every minute it goes untreated almost two million brain cells die.

Brainomix 360 Stroke is a collection of tools which uses state-of-the-art AI algorithms to support doctors and allow quick decisions to be made in situations where time is of the essence.

Earlier this year, new mum and pharmacist Nisha Patel suddenly lost sensation in her arm, followed by her ability to speak.

"I'm back to being mum and I think that was the biggest thing for me". Credit: ITV Cymru Wales

She said: "I was putting my son to sleep and at that point I just couldn't do anything, he was crying, I couldn't even talk to him, I couldn't be like, 'it's okay, mummy's here, you need to calm down', nothing like that.

"I tried grabbing my phone and then I was sitting there staring at my phone because my arm didn't know what to do on the phone in terms of pressing buttons."

Rushed to hospital, doctors informed her she had suffered a stroke.

The news came as a shock to Nisha, who remembered: "The first thing I thought was how am I going to talk to my son? How is my son going to learn from of me?

"It just came to me like, 'am I going to be a good mother?' I couldn't do anything for him.

"So it was a hard thing to sit there and go through especially with such a young kid - he was only nine months at that time."

But, within hours, Nisha's speech and mobility were restored thanks to new AI technology being used in Welsh hospitals.

The AI system rapidly interprets brain scans to help doctors decide whether to perform a thrombectomy, which involves removing the blood clot mechanically, or give the patient a clot-busting drug, known as thrombolysis.

Cardiff went live with the technology last October, and by April all acute stroke-admitting hospitals in Wales had it in place.

Speaking to ITV Cymru Wales, Dr Shakeel Ahmad, lead stroke clinician for Wales, said when a patient has an artery blocked, it needs to be unblocked as soon as possible by thrombolysis or thrombectomy. However, this has to be done very quickly in order for it to work.

"The AI is effectively like lighting a beacon above the patient's head that this person needs urgent attention." Credit: ITV Cymru Wales

Typically, a potential stroke patient would be taken to have a scan and it would then go for reporting with the doctor simultaneously looking after several other patients.

This standard pathway can see it take up to 30-60 minutes to analyse the scan, whereas if the new AI technology detects a potential blockage, it sends a ping to a consultant immediately who can then look at the images on their phone. This speeds up the process as they are able to make a decision on treatment there and then.

However, the treatments aren't suitable for every stroke patient, with around one in five eligible for thrombolysis and around one in 10 for thrombectomy.

As Nisha discovered, getting the right treatment at the right time can be the difference between losing the ability to talk and going back to a normal life.

She added: "I'm back to being mum and I think that was the biggest thing for me, as soon as I came out of the hospital I just gave him a big hug and I was just like, it's just so good."

Want a quick and expert briefing on the biggest news stories? Listen to our latest podcasts to find out What You Need To know...